EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Metta World Peace harmed much more than his own tattered reputation when he viciously elbowed Oklahoma City’s James Harden in the head. The Los Angeles Lakers troublemaker also deprived his team of his services as their starting small forward and defensive stopper for at least six playoff games while he serves his 10th suspension in the past decade. The NBA suspended World Peace for seven games on Tuesday for the inexplicable blow that gave Harden a concussion, keeping the former Ron Artest sidelined for most of the first postseason round. World Peace was ejected from Sunday’s...

The invitation to an exclusive party at Hollywood's famed Supperclub showed a relaxed, smiling young man welcoming patrons to a birthday celebration for Metta World Peace. At first glance, it appears to be a fundraiser for a deserving children's charity. But read further and it becomes clear that this is a party for the former Ron Artest — the first fabulous bash thrown by the Los Angeles Lakers forward who officially changed his name. But why Metta World Peace? "Metta is going to be the first name and it means like friendship, love and kindness," Artest told sports journalist Stephen...

This week marks five years since the NBA's infamous 'Malice at The Palace'. It was a scene that will live on forever as the moment player and crowd interaction went a step too far. With 45 seconds remaining and the Indiana Pacers leading by double digits over the Detroit Pistons at their home court the Palace of Auburn Hills, Ron Artest sparked a riot when he fouled Ben Wallace. Wallace responded with an aggressive shove and tensions boiled over for both sides as the referees tried to break up the all-in fight. A smug Artest then walked over and lay...

Free-agent forward Ron Artest says he's leaving the Houston Rockets to join the Los Angeles Lakers. In a text message to ESPN.com on Thursday night, Artest wrote: "I am happy to say I am goin' to L.A." ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard reports that Artest and the Lakers have reached a verbal agreement on what is believed to be a three-year contract worth an estimated $18 million. Wednesday is the first day free agents are permitted to sign new deals. Artest's decision was first reported by CBSSports.com. The mercurial swingman was initially courted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his text...

Former Detroit Pistons center Bill Laimbeer was known as a "dirty" player through much of his career. In one memorable incident, he hit Karl Malone on the side of the head with a hard clothesline as Malone was going up for a lay-up. After reading this article, I am convinced that Laimbeer needs to come out of retirement for one game only and give Artest a little taste of how bad the "Bad Boys" could be. Since that won't happen, any player who wants to take a shot at Artest has my blessing...

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley. By now, we have all seen the footage from the near-riot that broke out at a recent game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers in the NBA. There have been plenty of attempts to figure out what conclusions, if any, we should draw from what happened. Some sportswriters, like Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, insist that it was an isolated incident. Others, like Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, see what happened as a consequence of cultural trends within the NBA, such as younger, less-mature...

By now, you've probably seen the tape of the fight between Ron Artest and the Detroit Pistons fans. Just kidding. You've seen it. You've seen it in real time, in slo-mo and--my favorite--super slo-mo. In super slo-mo, Ron Artest's $50-million arm flows into the head of the (apparently innocent) fan like a bird's feather landing lightly on a fireplug. As aesthetics, rather than street fighting, it's hard not to gape and admire. The art director at Sports Illustrated also noticed how TV's compulsion to bathe us in images, no matter the subject, had transformed the fight into something else. For...

BOSTON -- I'll admit I've never followed basketball or any other sport with any interest, unless one counts the sleepless nights I spent this fall staring out the window of my Boston apartment waiting for Red Sox fans, deliriously loud in victory, to finally call it a night so I could be lulled off to sleep by the usual ambulance sirens and screeching subway tracks. But last week, in the wake of Ron Artest slugging some beer-slinging uber-fan, I had no choice but to take up an interest in basketball. The incident dominated the news, and I suddenly found myself...

Fan at center of Pistons-Pacers brawl calls Artest a `thug' 11/23/2004, 2:43 p.m. ET The Associated Press WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit fan who authorities say threw a cup that hit Indiana forward Ron Artest and started a brawl during a Pistons-Pacers game described the player Tuesday as a "thug." John Green, a 39-year-old contractor from the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield Township, made the comments during an appearance with his lawyer, Shawn Smith, on ABC's "Good Morning America." "Ron Artest went through the stadium punching people the whole night," Green said. "He was being a thug."...

If nobody had thrown anything at Ron Artest while he was sunning himself on the scorer's table Friday night, nothing would have happened. The NBA would have yawned and fined Artest for slugging Ben Wallace needlessly at the end of an Indiana victory and maybe fined and suspended Wallace for shoving Artest practically out to the sideline. Just another day in the thug life. The Pistons and Pacers know no other way to play each other, and neither did the old Pistons and Bulls, and neither did the old Heat and Knicks. It was much worse in the '50s, when...

Today scored a major exclusive this morning with the first TV interview of NBA player Ron Artest, who as FReepers who've spent the last week on the other side of the moon might not know, has been suspended for the remainder of the season for charging into the stands and attacking fans. This is a case in which mere words, even a verbatim transcript, would be insufficient to fully convey the full flavor of the interview. In a follow-up interview, NBA Players' Union head Billy Hunter acknowledged to Katie that Artest was "not very articulate." But that does not begin...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season Sunday as the NBA came down hard on three members of the Indiana Pacers for fighting with fans when a melee broke out at the end of a game against the Detroit Pistons. Overall, nine players from the teams were banned for more than 140 games, including some of the harshest penalties the league ever issued. Artest is the first player to be suspended for nearly an entire season for a fight during a game. ``The message the league sent was so powerful to players that...

NEW YORK (AP) - Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson of Indiana and Ben Wallace of Detroit were suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Saturday for taking part in one of the ugliest brawls in U.S. sports history, a fight with fans that commissioner David Stern called "shocking, repulsive and inexcusable." League officials were examining video tapes of Friday night's melee and interviewing witnesses. The NBA issued a statement saying it was reviewing rules and security procedures "so that fans can continue to attend our games unthreatened by events such as the ones that occurred last night." Artest, O'Neal...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest said Wednesday that he asked coach Rick Carlisle for time off because of a busy schedule that included promoting a soon-to-be released rap album, which led to his two-game benching. Artest held a short news conference before Wednesday night's 102-68 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, and in his usual ambiguous manner, tried to explain why he was benched. Artest said that he asked Carlisle for as much as a month off to heal his aching body and recover from a particularly busy schedule. "My body has been aching, I was going...